Disruptive 'Le Pesage' restaurant opens at Drohme

The latest episode in the rehabilitation of the racecourse domain ‘Drohme’ at Boitsfort has just taken place. The former weighing room, (or ‘Pesage’ in French) has just opened under that name. The building had been more or less abandoned for the past 25 years, during which time interior equipment such as the massive weighing scales, disappeared. The original building dates from 1900 and the Monuments & Sites Commission was thus involved in approving the renovation.

The concept of the restaurant is – to say the least and to use a word very much in vogue – disruptive. Starting with the inside of the building, the owners mandated interior designer Lionel Jadot with the décor. His most recent realisation in Brussels is shared office space Silversquare at Delta. The same philosophy, an unstructured mish-mash of colours, forms and materials, has been used for Le Pesage. The accent is on the circular economy, using existing materials, unconventionality and recycling. Speaking of his work, Lionel Jadot said it was eclectic like traditional Brussels architecture, and that the collision of elements created energy. Previous walls and partitions have been removed, walls left bare either as brick or with elements of the former paint showing.

The philosophy of disruptiveness and sustainability extends to the restaurant concept as well. Chefs Sandrine Jadot (Lionel’s sister!) and her son Charlie Delval, have concentrated on a sharing experience, a form of de-partitioning too. Main dishes are selected, placed in the middle of the table along with accompaniments, and people are encouraged to share each other’s choices. Ingredients are exclusively sourced from Belgian production, in line with the seasons, and the ‘slow cooking’ method is preferred. In time, an educational aspect for children will be added, allowing them to see where their food comes from (‘Ardennes trout’) and to learn that it is not necessary to go to faraway places to find good food.

Drohme CEO Michel Culot said that the idea was to attract the walkers and others using the outdoor facilities, along with office workers from the adjacent Chaussée de La Hulpe.